Mercutio is the best friend of Romeo of the Montague family. Mercutio is neither a Montague nor a Capulet; therefore he should have no reason to become caught up and risk his own life, as he is not involved in the feud of the two families. However his relationship with a Montague does cause his disastrous involvement. Mercutio is seen as a Montague associate. Along with many other reasons this fact does relate to his death and should not be overlooked.
His flamboyant character relates to the meaning of his name 'Mercutio'. His name is distinctive and true to his character, it is derived from the word mercury. Mercury can be explained in two way, either as in Mercury the winged messenger from Greek mythology or as in mercury (quicksilver) the liquid metal. There are many similarities between these two examples in both circumstances the objects are fast and/or have speed. However separately the words explain Mercutio's, soon to be your, character perfectly. Firstly, imagine the metal mercury. It is extremely poisonous, very alike Mercutio's words and actions are poisonous and can cause pain and discomfort. Also if mercury is shaken vigorously it will separate and form individual specks of the liquid metal nevertheless it will rejoin sooner or later. Similar to Mercutio's role, his death shakes up Romeo and Juliet's circumstances so vigorously that they make a vital decision, which in the long run rejoins their families after years of quarreling.
Secondly imagine Mercury the winged messenger. Mercury is quick, nimble brained, fast moving. These are all major qualities of Mercutio's character. Mercutio is a quick thinker, fast talker, he is nimble brained and can think of a sarcastic remark on the spot. You, as Mercutio, will have all of these characteristics and will be able to draw the audience in with your comical, remarks and lines that build the tension of the scene and scenes to follow.
Mercutio takes pleasure in making people laugh. He is seen as the comical character, it is believed that he carries the comedy of the entire play. He prefers to speak his mind and think of the consequences later. He enjoys starting trouble, creating uncomfortable situations amuses him. He could be said to be an all round troublemaker. What also amuses him is Romeo's longing for love or his need to be serious this is shown in Act I Scene IV.
It is in Act III Scene I were Mercutio exits the stage for the last time. We do however meet him in Act I Scene IV for the first time. It is in this scene that he convinces Romeo to go to a party that is being thrown by his rival family the Capulets. It is being held in the Capulets mansion and Romeo is especially worried about the consequences of his presence at such a grand celebration. He is very reluctant and would have to be put under heavy persuasion to be won over. Fortunately Mercutio's words are persuasive and must be spoken with much enthusiasm. He is so imaginative that he creates a whole world just so that he can explain how our dreams are created. His speech about 'Queen Mab', the queen of the fairies, shows brilliantly Mercutio's creativity, intensity, love and hate. He puts all his emotions into this one essential speech. It shows that he does not believe in dreams and sees them purely as idle fantasies. This act also shows that Mercutio does not understand Romeo's need for love. Mercutio prefers to be independent and free and not want to share his life with anyone but his friends. In portraying Mercutio you must understand his independence, imaginatively. You must express his lines with true emotions as the lines are so influential to the rest of the play. If Romeo had not been convinced by Mercutio, he would not have gone to the party or met Juliet his love, therefore they would never have rejoined their families through their tragic deaths.
Act III Scene I is the dramatic climax of the play. Mercutio acts very arrogantly and is sarcastic when the Capulets arrive. This annoys the Capulets and causes tension among the characters. Mercutio does not understand why Romeo is so reluctant to fight when Tybalt begins to taunt Romeo's family. Mercutio continues to insult Tybalt to goad him into fighting. Mercutio is arrogant throughout the fight and this makes Tybalt more willing to fight and win rather than suffer Mercutio's insolence. Mercutio ignores all of Romeo's pleads to stop fighting. He was so eager to fight so that Tybalt will stop bothering Romeo and his other friends. But unfortunately Mercutio not only looses the fight but is injured fatally. Tybalt stabbed Mercutio under the arm of Romeo when he stood between the two men to in an attempt to stop the fighting. When Tybalt realises his actions he flees while Mercutio is left to die. He does not hold back his anger in his last few minutes, he curses the Montague's and the Capulet's because their arguing was the cause of his death. He shouts 'A plague a'both your houses'. This is a very dramatic part of the scene, as is the fight.
As mentioned Mercutio looses his temper and curses the Capulets and Montagues, the family of his best friend. This curse may sound irrational but if you take into consideration that Mercutio was murdered because of these two feuding families you can begin to understand his frustration. His line 'A plague a'both your houses!' Should be spoken with such almighty passion it should cause your audience to want to cry for you, Mercutio. He has just viciously cursed his best friend because he was not only been physically wounded but also emotionally wounded as well. He felt betrayed, he was dying because he fought when his friend would not. If Romeo had defended himself or at least helped Mercutio fight, Mercutio may not have been killed. Think of your life, imagine you have just been betrayed by the one person you care the most about, your soul has been eternally crushed, your life turned upside down, your still beating heart torn from your chest and you have been left to stare at it as you die. This is how Mercutio feels in Act III Scene I, this feeling is what causes him to curse the lives of the families responsible for his death.
'A plague a'both your houses!' may seem like a harmless threat but the words are very significant to the rest of the play. The reason being, as the play develops and the characters come to life more and more in the eyes of the audience their lives begin to fall apart so brutally that you would believe a curse had been laid upon them. A 'plague' is a disease, it spreads and can cause tragedy, and wipe out entire families. 'Romeo and Juliet' is commonly described as Shakespeare's tragic love story. The tragedy does not begin until Mercutio is murdered, that is after Mercutio has cursed the families. 'A plague a'both you houses' is the line that makes 'Romeo and Juliet' the tragedy it is remembered as today. You should therefore say the lines in the way you would curse someone who had just ruined your life forever.
After this eventful part in the scene Romeo seeks revenge and kills Tybalt the murderer of Romeo's slain friend Mercutio. After Romeo's hand has taken Tybalt's life he is banished from Verona and if he is to return the penalty would be death. Romeo does however return only to see if the rumours of Juliet's death are true. What he does not know is that Friar Lawrence had an idea of how Romeo and Juliet could be together. He had made a potion that Juliet would drink and it would make her seem dead, but she would later wake peacefully. In spite of his attempts to reach Romeo, Friar Lawrence could not. Therefore when Romeo sees Juliet lying deadly still with not a breath entering nor escaping her cold lifeless lips he takes his own life. But before his final breath Juliet stirs as if waking from a deep sleep and watches her love die. She then takes her life next to Romeo so that they will never have to be apart. Their tragic deaths causes their two families to finally come together and live in peace with each other. Non of this would have happened if Romeo had not been banished and the only reason he was banished was because he killed Tybalt because Tybalt had killed Mercutio. Therefore Act III Scene I is the turning point of the whole play. The audience should understand this but unfortunately you cannot tell them in the middle of the production. The only other way to draw their attention towards this important scene is to make it memorable. The emphasis on the play would make the audience remember it and later they may realize its true significance. Remember the important points of Mercutio's character, his impact on the rest of the play, if you consider all of these important points you will portray Mercutio and show his true personality. I have faith in you and feel that you will do your part justice. Don’t loose your confidence and remember, Mercutio's character carries the comedy and his death IS the turning point of the whole play.
Yours
Mrs. Verona of English in Drama department.
